


Hidden under the skin

by ReevaKnight



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/F, Feral My Unit | Byleth, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Secret Crush, Werewolf My Unit | Byleth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:20:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24845206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReevaKnight/pseuds/ReevaKnight
Summary: Edelgard had always loved the classes of the teacher of the Black Eagles. This Byleth. It was such a new perspective and not at all what she had expected of a teacher of Garreg Mach. The mercenary had drawn her eye and attracted her attention. Of course it was all because of how she taught, what she did, what she could offer. That was all it was. She wanted a powerful ally at her side for the fight to come. The fact that she found herself with a smile on her face more often didn't mean anything. Feeling giddy when Byleth smiled at her was just something she should brush off.Seeing Byleth so upset over the death of her father, Edelgard knew she had to do something to help her. Get the teacher of the black eagles back. She wanted Byleth to have her vengence even if she couldn't exactly say it. She was ready to open the door to face the heartbroken professor... yet what she saw inside she could never have ever been prepared for...
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 20
Kudos: 125





	1. The passing of the Blade Breaker

She sighed out as she walked out of the infirmary, Edelgard mentally chiding herself for her mistake. A fresh bandage ran along her forearm under her uniform, they may have trained with wooden weapons for safety reasons. But accidents can still happen and indeed they had. She recalled dodging an incoming arrow from Petra. That girl certainly looked like she was aiming for the kill… but that was beside the point. She had stepped wrong, tripped, fell and skidded her arm along the floor. Shredding uniform and skin as she ground to a halt. It was just a flesh wound, at least… that was what she was trying to tell everyone as they rushed over to help her off the floor, all while blood dripped to the stone underfoot. Her sleeve was totally ruined from the nasty fall too. She sighed as she rolled her eyes again at herself, it was just a stupid fall, if that was a real battle such an injury would not have even phased or bothered her. If that was real she would have been back up in a heartbeat to rush the enemy archer. 

She flexed her arm as she rubbed her fingers over the thick layers of bandage on display under the shredded gaps of her sleeve. Bringing it up to her face and back away, it wasn’t hurting too much, just sore. She would be perfectly fine in a few days. If it scarred well… nothing new there. 

Edelgard made her way down the corridor to go back to her room, the training session would be over by now so there was no reason to go back to the training ground. At least that meant no one else was going to fuss over her, especially Hubert. In fact… she was surprised he was not here waiting at her door. Odd… but kind of nice for a change. Maybe he knew this was nothing to worry about and she was quite capable of taking care of herself on this matter. That would be nice. She hoped it was that and he was not just caught somewhere, frantically rushing over to check on her. 

That made her smile in a way. Hubert was a good friend to her. Even if she knew just how much his duties meant to him.

Byleth had not taken the training today, which was a shame. Edelgard always did love her lessons… her training… just everything. She found her much more interesting than the other teachers, the ex-mercenary clearly spoke from a totally different perspective. It was so refreshing, she always wanted to know more but there was just never enough time in the day. Also the fact that Byleth never talked down to them… the others did, maybe they didn’t mean to but she could see it. Byleth never did, she sometimes talked to them as if they were her own little mercenary band with her as the leader. It was… really nice.

She felt like the second in command of a mercenary group…

A sudden blush rose to her cheeks, what was she thinking?! This was an academy! She wasn’t playing pretend with her teacher! But… she did always like to be around the professor. She made her smile. She sometimes had to catch herself smiling at her like some lovestruck idiot. She was not here for teenage crushes. She had to get a grip on herself. She simply enjoyed her company and thought highly of this mercenary that is in charge of her class. That was all it was!

Edelgard idly passed by the captain’s office on the way to the stairs, the reason Byleth hadn’t taken the practise that day was because her father had called her away. She wondered what it could possibly be, but it wasn’t really any of her business. Still… she craned her neck as she passed to see if they were inside. They were. Byleth stood facing her father near the desk, her face was neutral as it often was. Jeralt stood before her, yet his face was of concern. Was everything alright?

She slowed her pace as she passed… maybe she could wait for her? Would that be wrong? 

“Maybe you shouldn’t be here kid.” It was whispered but she managed to hear it. What? What did that mean? She found herself slowing to a stop… she shouldn’t… eavesdropping was wrong. No, she wasn’t going to listen anymore. No… keep walking. Meet her at the stairs. Yet… was he telling her to leave the office or… the academy? Ok… she was definitely jumping to conclusions here. 

“I’m fine. You are here. I’m not leaving.” That was Byleth.  
Edelgard couldn’t help herself as she stopped just past the door, looking toward the stairs and back again. No one else was around… maybe she could afford just a few seconds. That was it. She was not someone looking for gossip. Yet no matter what she told herself she couldn’t stop a weird jab of worry prodding her that Jeralt was asking his daughter to leave. 

“I know…” Jeralt sighed. “But things are different now. I’m just worried about you.”   
“I’m ok… I just need to learn to control it.” What did that mean? Edelgard froze in place… straining her ears to hear. Control what? What did any of this conversation mean? Edelgard knew she was missing out on too much information, she wasn’t getting the whole picture, this was the folly of Eavesdropping. She didn’t want to get the wrong idea here. If anything it only froze her in position at the wall by the door. 

“Right…” Another sigh from her father. “I just… what if I’m not here next time?” That didn’t receive a verbal response from the professor. “I know, I know. I’m not saying anything is going to happen, I just mean what if I am away.” Edelgard waited to hear what Byleth was going to say… what were they talking about? “Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the Blade Breakers for a while? I’m sure I can let Rhea give you a break… well… maybe. Anyway…” Jeralt mumbled as he carried on. 

“I have my students. I’m not leaving them.” That gave Edelgard a little rush, she felt warmth run through her. Byleth really did care about them. “I’ll work something out…” 

At that she heard footsteps coming closer to the door! Oh no! Edelgard flinched and started to carry on down the corridor towards the stairs… maybe she could get far enough away…

“Edelgard?” The house leader froze. That was her professor’s voice. She had been found out. 

She quickly spun on the spot and waved at her, a mixture of a flush and embarrassment crossed her face at having been caught.   
“Professor!” She exclaimed a little too loudly and quickly. “I was just on my way back from the infirmary!” But that made Byleth’s normally passive face frown a little. She quickly marched over to where Edelgard stood. She was very close!  
“Are you hurt?” The teacher’s eyes roamed over her form, examining her for any wounds, Edelgard knew this, but having the professor’s eyes make her way over her body made her feel self-conscious… 

Quickly Edelgard raised her arms up and shook her head, trying desperately to somehow stop the blush that was rising to her cheeks, stepping back a pace to put some distance between her and the person that was making her heart flutter. Oh dear what was wrong with her… get a grip. 

“No, no it’s nothing. I just tripped and fell over. It’s fine… really.” The mixture of her teacher being so close and her embarrassment at being caught outside the door were making her want to just run away. She needed to calm down… deep breaths. It suddenly felt very warm in here...

“Your arm…” Byleth caught the bandages along her forearm. Edelgard spotted her eyes staring at her covered arm.   
“It is nothing… honestly my teacher. Just scraped skin, I’ve had worse.” That made her swallow at her choice of words… of course she had… not that Byleth knew that. But at that her teacher gazed back at her and... smiled.

She loved her smile. Her face was sometimes so passive even when she taught, Edelgard could go days without seeing a single change in her expression. It was so odd… and yet… the times she caught a true smile made her heart skip a beat. Edelgard would never say that Byleth’s expression was cold… but seeing her smile was like the first rays of the sun on her skin. 

“Would you like to walk down together?” Edelgard had to blink to pull herself out of her stupor.   
“O-Of course my teacher.” She was sure her face was bright red now, the dull ache in her arm had all but vanished from her mind. Getting to walk with her teacher was nothing new, nothing new at all, she was acting silly. She felt like an idiot… an idiot with a massive blush on her face at the thought of walking alone with her teacher. Getting to talk to her, without anyone else around, just the two of them. That sounded… lovely. She wanted to get to know Byleth better, there was this air of mystery around her yet… she felt safe with her. She had never known anything like it. Even as somewhere in her mind she still yelled at herself for trusting someone this easily. In this world that kind of trust does nothing but cause problems and hurt you. But yet… 

Byleth started to walk ahead now, Edelgard jogged a couple of paces to catch up and settled in beside her, walking together, side by side, with Byleth wearing that smile. It felt… right. And yet so very, very wrong. Dangerous. 

She had to be careful who she trusted, who she let in. She had plans, carefully laid out plans. This….Byleth was an unknown variable. She could very well ruin everything. But… something wanted to reach out to her, trust her, ask for her help, walk with her. She wanted to reach out her hand and touch Byleth’s…. She almost choked on that thought. She felt like some teenager with a crush on her teacher. Well… that may very well be it… but... she still found herself wanting to trust her. There was just… something there she wanted… all to herself. 

She tore her face away before her teacher could notice her now crimson skin. She was embarrassing herself. She needed to stop it and cool down. 

A sudden rush of thudding footsteps echoed out from the stairs in the hallway they were headed towards, the noise finally brought the house leader out of her mind and stopped her spiralling towards more and more thoughts that made her feel like nothing but a giddy teenager. She looked back towards the archway leading toward the stairs now. 

Out of the side where the stairs were came a rushing Hubert. His mop of dark black hair out of it’s impeccable place, his chest heaved. Had he… ran here? 

“Lady Edelgard! I came as soon as I could.” He spoke directly to her. Before his one eye, not hidden underneath hair, panned to the teacher. “Professor.” He acknowledged her, rather darkly… but that was just Hubert being Hubert. Before looking back at the Adrestian princess, as if Byleth wasn’t even there beyond the simple greeting. The pair had stopped now in the corridor. “Are you hurt anywhere? Your face is bright red, would you like me to accompany you back to your room?” Even though Hubert was only being a concerned friend and servant. Possibly the only person she truly considered her friend. She felt… disappointed at seeing him. She could only kick herself again at such a stupid and useless feeling. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow at class Edelgard.” The house leader’s heart skipped and fell as she heard those words, she saw that small smile turn away from her and carry on down the corridor. Edelgard knew that Byleth didn’t want to disturb her and Hubert… yet she still felt a small amount of… annoyance for him showing up when he did. But… she couldn’t say anything about it. Certainly not to the two of them. She could only watch as Byleth walked off and around the corner to the stairs… out of sight and away from her… 

“Lady Edelgard…?” Her gaze snapped back to her retainer, he was still waiting for her reply. She could only sigh as she opened her mouth in response, those strange giddy feelings of hers left down the stairs with her teacher. 

* * *

A somber mood had fallen over Garreg Mach Monastery, it was heavy, like a thick blanket it covered everything. It’s heavy weight being borne by every single person within, the way their shoulders slumped, the way their eyes panned to the ground. Everyone felt it, Edelgard felt it too. She felt it all too painfully, she couldn’t even share with the rest of the students, with any of the knights, not even Byleth. No her weight was far heavier then the others and yet she had to bear it without anyone noticing the difference. 

It had been a terrible few days for everyone in the monastery. The Captain of the Knights of Seiros, the Blade Breaker... Byleth’s father… was dead. 

His funeral had been such a quiet affair for such a larger than life man, the entire monastery had been present, but little words were said… and now they only stood there in the rain. Watching as his body was laid to rest beside his wife’s, that came as a small surprise to her. She didn’t know that his wife was buried here, but he was the Captain of the Knights before. That meant he had a life here before… he had left… finally got away from all of this church doctrine, as much as Edelgard agreed with the man she wondered why he had done it. Perhaps it was due to the death of his wife... 

But now… she was never going to get those answers. 

All because… all because of… them. Edelgard had clenched her fist tightly as she grinded her teeth in utter rage. She had stood apart from the others in the rain, watching the funeral of the dear Captain, she didn’t really know the man but he was someone so dear to her teacher. It hurt her so much, like a dagger had been thrust into her heart. More than any wound could possibly do to her now, it was more than that. She knew just who and what had killed him, she could even guess why, unlike nearly everyone else here. She had scanned the faces of those gathered, the only person stood beside her in her self isolation was Hubert. Dear Hubert, at her side as always, but it wasn’t him she was looking at. 

She saw the professor, standing near the front, near to Rhea. She was… crying. It was small and silent, she didn’t hiccup or bawl, it was so quiet, just like most of her emotions were. But every single small flicker of feeling that passed on her face spoke volumes, and right now Edelgard could see the absolute heartbreak. That only hurt Edelgard all the more, that dagger being pushed slowly deeper inside of her. It hurt… but she welcomed it, let it hurt. She deserved it. 

She hadn’t meant for that to happen, it would not change her course, it would not change anything. She promised to bear any and all pain to make the future better. This was pain she welcomed, pain she seared into her memory, this could not happen again. She made herself stare at Byleth’s broken features, watching those tears trail down her cheeks, obvious even in the soft rainfall around them. 

She had to plant her feet firmly in the ground, she wanted nothing more than to rush over there and throw her arms around the grieving professor. To hold her close and to tell her how sorry she was… beg for her forgiveness for allowing such a horrible thing to happen… tell her that she would get her revenge, she wouldn’t let them get away with it. To cry with her. 

But… she didn’t move. 

Soon Byleth’s face became too much and she had looked away. 

Now it was the day after, they had not seen the Black Eagles teacher since that day. She seemed to be holed up in her room, realising that she would not be attending class that day. The day had been cancelled, everyone accepted it and did not even argue. Not even Ferdinand to his credit for once. Even he knew that this was not the time. She was used to checking up on Bernie when she did not want to leave her room, now she found herself outside the room of her dear professor. 

She remembered the fierce force in battle, the figure that commanded them and never flinched no matter what was thrown at her or what wounds any of them suffered. She heard what the knights whispered, the ashen demon. She glimpsed that occasionally, now knowing what they meant. As she had leapt out of apparently nowhere and cut down foe after foe, her expression never changing, as if the enemies weren’t even human. 

But that Byleth… was not this Byleth. 

Edelgard listened to the pitter patter of the rain on the grass, it had rained since that day, as if the sky itself was in mourning with them. A silly notion, but no one had been the same since, especially not the professor. She knew what she was going to say… she had been rehearsing it in her head as she had walked over, had requested Hubert to let her go alone. This was something she needed to do alone, maybe in some small way to try and atone… maybe. Even if that was something she just couldn't say. She was sorry it had happened, and sorry that she knew the killers but could not say. She hated them. She despised them so much. She found them disgusting, having to stare at Kronya after she had killed him, with that vile smile of hers, Edelgard had never before felt such rage and spite to kill her as she did then. Purely because of what she had done to Byleth. She wanted to lunge with her axe and decapitate her where she stood, wipe that smile off her face… leave her corpse on the floor for the birds. She deserved no funeral. 

But no… she had to play along, it was all for the greater good in the end. No more fathers or mothers or family would have to die once she was done. But until that time came she would have to carry all of these burdens and bear them gladly, Jeralt was another weight upon her shoulders and she would never forget him. 

She needed Byleth to come back, she couldn’t stay like this. She understood, she really did, more than most. But… she wanted Byleth at her side, she wanted Byleth to have her revenge, like she deserved. She wanted Byleth at her side when they toppled and destroyed those who slithered in the dark. To sniff them out of every hole they hid in and snuff them out like the rats that they were. She deserved that. Edelgard wanted to give that to her. But she knew she couldn't outright say that. But she had to try and do something. 

She had been staring at the door to her teacher’s room for the past few minutes, going over what she was going to say to her. Stood just under the cover from the rain. Trying to settle her raging heartbeat and guilt that settled on her heart even now. That was fine, she had already accepted that. 

Finally Edelgard reached out her hand and knocked on the door. 

“Professor? May I come in?” She tried the handle, it was unlocked. The wooden handle gave way with her pressure. But she held off, wanting to have permission first. Yet… what she heard made her pause. Inside she heard scuffles and a sudden bang… Edelgard tensed, her nerves alight and her muscles pulled tight. Her mind instantly pushed into battle mode, the energy to focus on her enemy and take them down. Something sounded wrong… but was she jumping to conclusions? 

Another bang, like something had just dropped to the floor, it sounded heavy. The sudden noise made her jump. Her hand no longer gripped the handle when she had involuntarily moved. 

“Professor!” She shouted to her, uncaring if anyone else could hear her, those noises were making her concerned. Worried. A cry… she couldn’t tell if it was her teacher or not… followed by whimpers. That was it. She was no longer staying outside, with or without permission she had to go in. 

She had to know Byleth was safe, to know she was ok. She felt on high alert as her energy spiked through her system, she didn’t know what would await her inside but her body flooded her with adrenaline. Ready for the worst. What if Byleth was being attacked?! … She had to open the door. Wishing she bore a weapon, but right now uncaring about that small detail, she pushed her weight into the door and forced it open, slamming it against the wall. 

“Professor!” She cried out into the room. Hoping she was ok, please be ok, she wanted her fears to be unfounded. She wanted to look like a fool. To blush and just say it was nothing… 

But it wasn’t nothing. 

Inside it was dark, no candlelight filled the room, no light at all, the rain pitted against the far window, a constant sound as it broke the otherwise now silent room. Her eyes had to quickly scan the room to take it all in, it didn’t match at all with the neat and tidy, if sparse, room of the teacher of the Black Eagle House. 

Paper lay strewn about the floor, some ripped and shredded into pieces, the desk had been pulled away and lay on its side. The board on the wall lay skewed, with great slashes running down, the bed was similar, the tattered remains of blankets and pillows had been slashed into and ripped open. This didn’t look like an attack, this looked like some animal had gotten loose, raging against the cage of a small room it had thrashed and slashed at everything in sight. What… what was this?

But no time for that, she spotted a figure hunched over in the centre of the ruin. A figure that wore the garments of her dear professor, indigo hair billowed out over her shoulders. It was definitely her. But she was facing away, staring at the wall. But her shoulders were… they were shaking. It was so forceful and harsh… for a second Edelgard wondered if she was crying. She wouldn’t have been surprised due to what she had seen at the funeral, but this seemed different. 

It was the shaking of powerful emotions that wracked her form… she could see it from here. Quite what she wasn’t sure of. But it didn’t seem to be sadness. 

Suddenly the figure stopped shaking and snapped her head to the side as she stared at the intruder. 

“You can’t be here…” Edelgard wondered for a brief second if she was right to intrude on her like this. A flash of doubt interrupted her. No… this was right. 

“Professor…” She started. But Byleth stood higher off the floor now and turned to her… she stumbled and flew her hand out to the nearby desk for support. What was wrong?!   
“Get.... out....” Those two words sounded so forced, so difficult. As if she was struggling to speak. Her chest was heaving with breath as she forced air between tightly clenched teeth. “...please....” That last word sounded more like a whine. As if she was trying so desperately to say something… to hold onto something.Edelgard didn’t understand, her words were confusing, and her body seemed to be wound so tightly, like a coiled spring. Keeping it pressed down, forcing herself to stay that way, that if she should so much as let go the spring would fly, releasing whatever she was holding back. The house leader just couldn’t understand… 

Something told her to get out of this room, something inside was pushing her out and telling her to listen to it. She felt danger in this room, even though it was just her and Byleth. Something was clearly not right, she didn’t feel the same calm aura of the professor who shared her small smile with her. 

No.

This was another side of her. She wasn’t talking to the Ashen demon, nor the teacher of the Black Eagles. But then if she wasn’t talking to either of them… who was she talking to?

“Byleth?” She tried her name out on her tongue. She hadn’t used it since the mercenary had become her teacher, but she made herself use it now.   
“L-lurggggg… Leave…” She practically gurgled out. As if she was having so much difficulty even talking now. As if simple words were the hardest things in the world to say. But this only made Edelgard hold her ground, no, she had decided she would stand with Byleth. Stand with her against her own pain, she had promised herself that outside the door. This may have not been what she had expected, but she would still fulfill her duty. 

This may have not been quite the pain she had expected, but Byleth was clearly in pain. She was going to prove to her teacher that Byleth could have her at her side and she was not going to shy away or leave. No. She needed Byleth to come back to herself and lead them as the professor again, she wanted her as an ally and she wanted an ally who was someone worthy to stand beside. She knew Byleth had it in her she just needed to bring it back out.

“I will not, my teacher.” The plan had not changed. Even when faced with something like this. 

But that only seemed to send Byleth into more shakes, as if her body was trying to force her to do something her mind clearly did not want to do. It was making Edelgard on edge, she had to force down and swallow a lump of fear that was building inside her stomach. No, she was not afraid of her teacher!

“N….n….” It sounded like Byleth couldn’t get the word out, no matter how much she was trying to force it, the ex-mercenary began to choke and garble. Like an animal retching… bursts of fear and pity rippled through her chest. She didn’t understand, but it didn’t stop her own emotions from flooding her. She had to understand, Byleth had to let her in, she wanted to help. However before she could even try again the Byleth, that wasn’t acting like the Byleth she knew, roared out into the room. Edelgard flinched and backed a step away from the door. The sound wasn’t human… the noise pierced her like a weapon and she had to fight to not cower before it. It wasn’t like anything she had heard before, no animal nor beast nor monster… 

Suddenly the figure darted to the nearby chair that was likewise on it’s side and lifted it, before throwing it with full force against the wall. She had lifted the chair and threw it like it weighed nothing… the wood smashed into the stone and exploded. The pieces raining down onto Byleth as she stood there uncaring in the centre of the room. She was heaving and panting as she once again struggled to hold down on the spring of her body, as if that throw was her not having the strength to stop it, allowing the spring to loosen for a second. Before Byleth forced all of her weight back on it. She grunted and huffed like a raging beast as she stared at the wall… 

Edelgard saw her chance to run. It was now, she saw what this Byleth could do. The strength that this Byleth had. She should just go. Leave her and never return. But Edelgard was too stubborn for that, she had never ran from anything in her life and she wasn’t going to start now. 

“I’m not leaving you. If that was what that attempt was.” She forced her voice to be calm, authoritative. She couldn’t be nice, not here. If this was an animal trying to intimidate her in running away then she just had to prove she was the bigger force. Right?

But the shape that was her teacher snapped her gaze at her, still heaving through clenched teeth as she stared right at the intruder that was Edelgard. For a second their eyes connected, she saw something of her teacher in them… and something that was not. 

Suddenly the form that was her teacher leapt over the desk and towards Edelgard! 

She couldn’t move or even defend herself as Byleth quickly grabbed onto the front of her uniform and slammed her against the wall. Their bodies merely inches apart now. Edelgard struggled to suck in a breath as all the air was pushed out of her lungs from the powerful blow. 

Yet as soon as she finally saw the face of her teacher she stopped trying to breathe. For a second all she could do was stare. 

She recognised the messy hair draping her professor’s face, she recognized the clothes, slightly ripped now but still very much there. She recognised the shape. But she didn’t look right. Byleth’s eyes struck her first, the usual blue had been replaced with amber. The odd deep yellow stuck out against the blue she expected, those eyes spoke of something burning underneath, something she was trying with all of her might to keep back, that she was losing against... Her mouth wasn’t right either... she didn’t realise at first… but she noticed sharp pointed fangs spilling out over her lips. A sound rumbled from Byleth’s throat… a growl. Was her teacher… growling at her? In any other situation she would find this funny. But not now… this was not funny. Right now… she was scared. 

Still Edelgard held her ground, not that she could actually escape from Byleth’s iron like grip, all that fake bluster she felt before at trying to help her vanished under the gaze of… no… this was still Byleth. She knew her. She may not understand but Byleth was still there… somewhere.

Just as Edelgard had managed to pull herself out of her fear… she noticed the amber eyes of her teacher melt away to be replaced by that beautiful blue once more. Her heart leapt into her throat, what did this mean?

“Byleth?” The class leader spoke, once more using the mercenary’s real name to try and reach her. Sweat dripped down Byleth’s face, her panting grew worse but at the same time it lost that mad edge, like the human she was had managed to fight it’s way back to the surface. 

She opened her mouth to speak while loosening her death grip on Edelgard’s clothes… yet nothing came out… instead her features filled with an expression of… fear? Apology? Guilt? She couldn’t place it, she had never seen so many emotions on her face all at once, as whatever dam that had held them in place came tumbling down and the student was watching the waterful flood through her. Her hand finally left her clothes and pulled away, still they stared at each other. Without a doubt this was Byleth, recognition filled her now sky blue eyes. The eyes she loved. For a second nothing else existed, Edelgard silently prayed this was done, that Byleth had control back of whatever was haunting her. She still wanted to help her, she wasn’t going to go anywhere…

Yet just as her heart had finally started to slow as the one she trusted was back in her presence… Byleth turned and ran out of the door. Her hair and ripped cloak billowed out behind her as she sprinted out of the door. Where was she going?! Edelgard could only stare wide eyed as she watched her leave... her mind frozen and struggling to comprehend all of this. She found herself with a reached out hand, as if trying to stop her. She hadn’t meant to do that, she had just reacted. Something in the back of her mind pushed her to follow… she may not understand… but this was Byleth, the woman mourning her father, the mercenary who threw herself into danger for her, the teacher who sat with her and helped her, the warrior and person she dearly wished to stand at her side. 

She gritted her own blunt human teeth. 

And ran out of the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I feel bad for three things here:
> 
> 1: This was meant to be a one shot but I'm getting burnt out as it's just not ending XD. So I split it into three.  
> 2: I wrote about Jeralt's funeral on FATHER'S DAY. >< Gdi.  
> 3: It's also El's birthday and yet this is what I'm uploading... :/
> 
> Haha. Nvm. Hope you all enjoyed!


	2. Beasts in human form

Edelgard threw her head this way and that, where had Byleth gone? Where would she go? The rain was pouring, heavier now as the cold was setting in. She had to find her. Now. 

A sudden yelp in the rain, she ran towards it, over the grass and through the pelting water. Her uniform was already soaking but she didn’t care as she tore off after the noise. 

She came to a stop by a fallen member of the church near the steps down to more dorm rooms, she stared at the woman.   
“Which way?!” She shouted at her. Uncaring how blunt she sounded. She had to catch up, now. The woman didn’t say anything just pointed down towards the greenhouse. Edelgard sprinted down the stairs and began to run over the grass. The rain fell over her vision, making it harder to see, puddles splashed mud over her boots and stockings but still she ran. She skidded to a halt as she careened her gaze this way and that, which way?! Which way?! There! 

She spotted two guards talking to each other, clearly ruffled at something and pointing to the markets. With nothing else to go on Edelgard pushed her body to catch up, Byleth was so fast! Something inside wondered what she was doing, was this the right thing to do? Was it? But that didn’t matter right now. She remembered those amber eyes of hers as they stared her down, that was not Byleth… not her Byleth at all. She saw her again in the blue that re-appeared. That was her, it was this Byleth that was running, it was this Byleth she had to help. 

She pushed her body to catch up, running at full pelt in the rain. She passed the water where she had often seen her teacher fishing during her time off. Not there, she pressed on, her chest was burning, she can’t keep this pace up. The panic rose higher as she started to think she wasn’t going to find her, nothing else made its way into her thoughts, no other plan, she just knew she had to find her. Byleth had to know she wasn’t alone. She didn’t want her to be… and Edelgard didn’t want to walk alone either…

She slowed to a stop once more as she stood by the guards, not giving them any attention as she threw her gaze over the market stalls, it was quiet, only a few people milled about as they tended to their wares in the rain. Edelgard panted hard as her body struggled for needed breath. Where was she? Where was she?! 

A dot of blue on the horizon. 

Her eyes immediately flew to it, there! A flash of the blue hair she knew and recognised anywhere was already out of the gates and still running at a speed Edelgard could never hope to catch. No, don’t think like that. She pushed her body onwards, sprinting through the markets and out of the gates, she didn’t tell anyone she was leaving, students were supposed to let someone know. But none of that mattered now, she didn’t even stop to take in the confused faces of the various people dotted around the stalls, nothing else mattered, her soaking uniform didn’t matter, her drenched hair didn’t matter, she ran on. 

Out of the gates and into the world outside, out onto the road, she could plainly see the figure she was chasing down, her speed was unnatural, she was still losing ground! Edelgard’s body was tiring, no matter how hard she pushed, how much she wanted to, she was only human and slowing fast. Her adrenaline fueled sprints were tiring her out fast, her pace slowed no matter how much she wanted to keep going flat out. 

She made sure to keep her gaze on the professor, don’t lose her, no matter what, don’t lose sight of her. Is she heading to the village up ahead? Is that it? 

No… she watched her as Byleth turned and headed towards the forest further away. Why was she going out there? It doesn’t matter… the run is so far… it looked like miles… and Edelgard was already so tired. Come on… she had to keep going… it didn’t matter how far. 

She knew her boots were not suited for sprinting across a field… she was risking injury. But surely… surely if she just kept going. The rain only exasperated the situation, the muddy earth underneath slid and she was risking her own health. Injury as well as illness as she ran in the rain. She stared up once again as Byleth just kept on going, the ground didn’t seem to bother her as she ran on, over the grassy field as she drew ever closer to the trees. She was going to lose her, she was going to lose sight of her and then… what? 

A hole in the muddy ground caught her boot and Edelgard couldn’t stop herself from plummeting to the earth. Mud dirtied the front of her uniform even as she shot out her hands to protect herself. The ground was soft so she didn’t injure herself… but she could have done. What was she doing? Had she thought this through at all?

She pushed herself back up just in time to see the form of her teacher vanish into the woods. 

“Byleth!” She screamed out. Her heart wrenched as all she wanted to do was help. To reach out to her and let her know it was ok to reach back. The princess wanted the teacher at her side and her back, she saw something in her that she wanted to have. At times she wondered if this was more than just a teenage crush that made her heart flutter. Byleth could be much more than that. 

Her throat hurt, her muscles were screaming at her, her chest was in agony as she struggled to regain her breath. All the while she stayed on her hands and knees in the mud, the sound of her scream was drowned out in the rain. 

Was this it? Had she lost her? Would Byleth come back? What if she didn’t? What if this was going to be the last time she ever saw her? What if everyone had been too much? 

Those fears rattled through her mind. No… this was not going to be the last time. Not if Edelgard had anything to say about it. If she herself had to tell Byleth to face everything and to not run away… then she would. And gladly. 

She brought her vision round to the great monastery, it’s giant spires reaching up into the sky. Should she head back? Tell Hubert? Get her weapons and gear? Maybe even grab her classmates? What was the right thing to do here? But… she drew her gaze back down, away from the great monastery dedicated to Seiros and their religion, she had always done what she had thought was right, even if others did not think the same. Right now… the house leader’s heart was telling her to press on. To find the wayward teacher and talk to her, she wasn’t sure if bringing her back would be right or not but that was for later. Right now, she couldn’t let things end like this. 

The princess of Adrestia picked herself off the floor, she was covered in mud and soaking to the bone, but she held herself high with all of the grace she had. She began to walk forward toward the trees, she had to find her before… she didn’t know. She just knew she did and that was that. 

If she was quite honest she wasn’t sure where all these feelings were coming from, something was pushing her to do this. No matter how much she was trying to rationalise it, she wasn’t truly sure. But she simply knew she had to. 

She stepped slow and carefully over the muddy field now, the rain threatening to freeze her, but she would get back to Garreg Mach before that happened. Hopefully before night fell. 

* * *

The house leader finally drew near the edge of the treeline. The rain still peltered her as she stood there and stared in, the darkness of the clouds overheard obscured her vision. Yet she could still make out the shapes of the plants and growth of the bark as it reached high above her, creating a blanket of foliage which only let thin slivers of light permeate through to highlight the massive roots and patches of grass inbetween. In the light of day this place had seemed just like any other forest, she and her class had been here on training missions, further out in search of monsters. She was not a stranger here. Yet the darkness cast this place in a different light. This place felt different. But that would not stop her, her professor might need her help. Even if she wanted to be alone, Edelgard would respect that as long as she knew she was safe, she would sit as a distance and allow her privacy. Of course she would. But running off to a forest? Looking... looking like that? Edelgard had finally caught her breath allowing her mind to catch up, to think over what she had seen. 

She had heard tales of different races from continents far away, of creatures who could parade as humans yet transform into beasts. But… she didn’t even know if that was true. She had never heard nor seen them outside of stories. She hadn’t dismissed the idea outright… but she thought that the stories could bear any such inaccuracies. Such as it was just a ritual where they dressed as beasts, or a beast from a myth had become accepted fact. Too many possibilities without visiting these places herself or seeing such a thing. 

It had little to do with Fodlan and little to do with her future. So she had dismissed the stories as nothing but fanciful tales and carried on with her life. Yet those stories were now at the forefront of her mind. Those eyes… those teeth. Byleth did not look human, she didn't act human when she pushed her up against a wall. She acted more like… a beast. Pushing another against the wall in a force of intimidation… or… as prey. That sat heavy on her stomach, a weighted ball of confusion she so wanted to understand. She couldn’t understand but Edelgard so dearly wanted to find her friend. 

She had so many questions, the only other person she could have asked is buried back at the monastery. 

She wasn’t backing down now, even if she didn’t know what was going on, Byleth might not even have anything to do with those old stories. Perhaps they were all made up rubbish or simple myths. Either way… it only drove her to solve this mystery. 

Edelgard with a final deep breath pushed on into the dark and eerie forest, splatters of rain fell through the canopy up above as it leaked over bark and leaves. She wasn’t being drenched as much as before but the water wasn’t what she was concerned with here. Being alone in this forest was absolutely against the rules of the monastery, it was to keep them safe. To only venture in as a group together with their professors. But she didn’t have time for the rules. 

She swallowed the urge to shout her teacher’s name once again, she didn’t want to attract something else to come looking for her instead. 

The student scanned her eyes this way and that, around the natural paths in between the trees, many footprints embedded into the dirt floor, too many to try and spot her dear professor’s amongst it. She didn’t see anything that seemed to indicate someone had veered off in another direction so she proceeded to follow the footprints, hoping she would find… something. 

Her boots trudged along the narrow path, mud caked her shoes but she was already wet through and filthy at this point, she really did not care. It was dark all around her, but she could still see well enough even with the heavy rain clouds and the foliage blocking the light. So when she saw a grey patch amongst the green she immediately darted towards it. Her heart leapt into her throat as she jumped over a fallen mossy log to reach the cloth. She reached down and clenched onto the sodden material and lifted it out of the dirt. 

It was Byleth’s cloak, the jacket like material she had worn every day since she had arrived. It had always been nearby, Edelgard simply couldn’t imagine her without it now. Where was she? She held the wet garment close, wrapping the torn and tattered clothing up and bundling it up under her arm. She just couldn't leave it out here. 

Her heart began to thunder in her chest as she did so. Something just screamed at her that this was all wrong. She had to find her. This was not just time to cool off, time to get away and think. This was all so wrong. She had to stop herself from yelling out her name. Once again she wanted to. She had to find her. 

Edelgard pressed on, deeper into the forest, knowing that every step was taking her further from the edge, further from the monastery and further into possible danger. Wishing she had brought her axe she listened intently for any possible threat, peeking out behind trees looking not only for the striking blue of Byleth but for… anything else that might not want her here. 

As she ventured onwards now she spotted a lone trail that ran into the forest, prints from boots that trod into the earth as a figure ran on. She narrowed her eyes as she suddenly wished she could track as well as Petra. But once again she knew she did not have the time to go back. She would have to make do with her own paltry wilderness skills. 

Footprints were easy enough, especially in wet mud making even her dull skills able to recognise. It gave her something to concentrate on, to put her fear and panic for the professor’s safety to the back of her mind as she searched, feeling that overwhelming panic on the edge of her senses for her wellbeing now. But she swallowed it and kept it at bay. She was going to find her. 

She found a shirt now… she didn’t even have to question whose it was. The familiar medallion still attached. Why was this here? She didn’t understand. It was as if Byleth had been tearing off her clothes as she ran, why would she do that? She was going to freeze out here! What could possibly have made her do this? Was she… was she having some sort of breakdown from her father’s death? That made the weight in the pit of her stomach drop. That.. couldn’t be true... could it? She shook her head. She was speculating. She can’t do that, just find her. 

Up ahead she picked up the eye-catching stockings her teacher wore, she had always liked them… to see them half shredded and dirtied by the rain and mud was really quite sad… just like the other clothes she picked them up and bundled them under her arm. She was starting to expect a naked Byleth to pop up around a tree now… but right now that wouldn’t even faze her. She was in high alert and the time for embarrassment and worries was not now. 

Soon the footprints she had been following came to a stop. Byleth’s boots lay at the end of the path. Followed by a belt and… 

Edelagrd gasped as she realised just what was planted into the ground. Forced into the wet earth with its handle reaching to the sky. Was the sword of the creator. 

There is no way the professor would be without this. This was no ordinary weapon, with how much Byleth had been drilled into the importance of these weapons to keep on at all times… to stop theft or misuse…. It was so paramount that Byleth never had this out of her sight…

To see it here… sticking out of the earth. Edelgard knew something was very wrong. Byleth knew her duty to this, even if everything else from the church was somewhat hazy at best and downright corrupt at worst, the controlled use of weapons like these she could understand. Byleth would never have taken this off. 

Was she in trouble? Was that why her clothes were gone and her sword was left? Has something happened? Too many questions. 

Edelgard reached out for the sword… she couldn’t leave it here. Unlike other weapons she knew she would be safe from any corrupting influence. As much as that chagrined her, she could put this horrible crest that was forced on her to some use after all. The very idea that her second crest she had not asked for… that her siblings had died for… that she was now using to help her pick up this weapon she did not want. It made her want to throw the weapon away into the forest, to fling the thing that represented the sick crest they forced onto her. She was ok with it when Byleth held it, none of these things crossed her mind. Because it was just Byleth’s weapon, to use as Byleth saw fit. Not anyone else. Not the church nor those who slither in the dark… no one. She was not Nemesis nor a thrall of the church, she hoped things would stay that way. 

But for her to place her fingers around the hilt and pull the blade out of the ground. She had to hold her shaking grip lest she throw the cursed item far away from her. Her fingers ached as she tensed, breathing through gritted teeth as she pulled. The earth fell away easily as it slid from the soil. She held it aloft… as she stared at the blade she felt such mixed feelings towards it. They all bubbled and toiled together as she had to repeatedly tell herself this was Byleth’s weapon. It was not hers, not anyone else’s. That was all it was. Her eyes settled on the missing crest stone, she remembered Thales himself questioning her. But she knew less than he did on the matter.  
Yet the power she brought out of it without one… Edelgard often forgot it didn’t even have one. This weapon truly was something that should never be in anyone else’s hands. So with a heavy sigh she kept her composure and control… ignoring the desire to throw the thing away she instead kept it close. This was all Byleth’s… 

Speaking of, she gathered up the muddy boots that still lay on the ground. 

She would be truly naked in the woods now… why? So many reasons shot through her mind. But nothing fit. 

She looked down to examine the end of the footprints… looking for the pads of human feet to be here. But she couldn’t see any. She looked this way and that as she tore her vision around her. Holding the clothes and the weapon under her arm, the soaking material matching her own. Should she shout? Perhaps she was close? 

Suddenly Edelgard thought back to those eyes of Byleth’s, those odd amber eyes that she had gazed into. They weren’t human. They seemed so wrong, as if the woman before her had been Byleth and yet… not Byleth. She idly examined the wet clothes she was hanging onto. Those eyes… maybe this wasn’t some sort of knee jerk reaction to grief… maybe she was trying to get away. She couldn’t help but think back to those stories of beasts in human form, transforming back when the inner beast took over. She chewed her damp lip as she stood there in the mud. Even so, her worry for her teacher was still what kept her from going back. Even if something like that could possibly be true, she still needed to find her. Her father must have known, surely… maybe he used to help her. 

That made an odd sort of sense, if this Byleth had always existed then why did this side of her only appear today? ....Because the one person who had been there for her and could help her was no longer here. Byleth must be feeling so alone. But once again she was speculating, all of these theories didn’t mean anything if she didn’t find her. Then she could start piecing this puzzle together. 

She took a deep breath in… in and out. She had to calm down. To focus. She held Byleth’s waterlogged and muddy clothes, she held in her hand Byleth’s weapon. Not the church’s, this was Byleth’s. That thought made her glad to hold it and no longer want to throw the wretched thing away. Concentrate. She once again looked back down at the end of the boot tracks, the earth was disturbed and pushed down with force. Something pressed onwards, she couldn’t tell what. But definitely something. Good enough right now. 

Edelgard followed the tracks onwards and deeper into the forest. 

* * *

The rain was pressing down harder above, was it ever going to let up? Even the blanket of leaves high above was struggling to hold back the water, as droplets began to fall on her once again. The house leader was shivering and sodden, still following the odd trail through the woods. It scraped and scrambled almost like an animal, yet it moved forward with a human-like purpose. She was struggling to make heads or tails of it, once again wishing to have any sort of tracking ability like her fellow Black Eagle, she made a mental note to ask Petra to teach her some time. She was sure Petra would probably be far too happy to show her techniques from her homeland. That gave her a small smile as she thought of her classmates… it made her wonder just what they would be thinking if they knew what she was doing right now. 

What time was it? How long had she been out here? She was getting tired of walking now, but if she turned back around she could clearly see the trail leading back to where she came in. She wasn’t lost. Not yet anyway. 

Suddenly the trail came up to a shallow river. She hadn’t heard it till now over the patter of rainfall. The water gently rippled over the earth as it traveled downstream. Passing over rocks and pushing mud with it as the waters flowed with the added rainfall. But… this was bad. Edelgard began to grow exasperated as she searched. There was no trail on the other side. Her heart fell as she stared at the other bank, surely she was just missing something. Surely… she was trying to ignore her fear that was starting to grow in the back of her mind. The trail wasn’t on the other side… she looked up river, she couldn’t see anything which could be the trail. Down river… nothing. That fear began to grow and push into her mind. Where could she have gone? This… can’t be it. The fear grew in size as it pushed at her more and more, bringing with it anger as she could not believe she had come all this way, followed the trail, picked up her clothes and weapon… all for...this?! 

She twisted her neck this way and that. She must be missing something… come on. The fear was being pushed back only by the anger, how could she have lost her?! She had come all this way! She was soaked to the bone… for this?! 

But… there was nothing. Either she had truly vanished at the water’s edge or Edelgard was just too stupid to realise where she had gone. She berated herself as she grew frustrated and angry. The fear in the back of her mind nagging at her that she just couldn’t find her. She felt that Byleth needed… someone. If her father was gone then maybe she just needed… someone to be there. And Edelgard wanted that someone to be her. But... she wasn’t good enough. She couldn’t find her. 

She couldn't just go back… not now. 

She dropped the clothes at the water's edge, not like they weren’t already ruined. The soaking material thumped to the earth, she stared down at the sword of the creator, such a cursed weapon. But… she gritted her teeth as she stared… it was still Byleth’s. So she relaxed her grip and held it at her side. The splashing of rain as it fell through gaps in the trees and into the water. The serene running of water that right now was only aggravating her further. Edelgard didn’t know what to do now. She couldn’t just stay here… but she couldn’t just leave. 

For now she simply plopped down onto the wet earth, not caring as her rump became just as muddy as her front. 

What was she going to do?

She gazed up at the sky between the gaps in the trees. It was so overcast and cloudy, the dark grey draped over the clear blue of the sky she enjoyed gazing up at so at times. It was so dark even in the middle of the day. Her adrenaline was wearing off, that anger and fear starting to ebb away with it. Replaced with worry and uselessness, she didn’t know what to do. She began to shiver now, the water finally reached her heated skin. She can’t stay out here much longer. But even imagining trudging back to the monastery with the clothes and weapon with no explanation did not appeal to her. Especially if she ran into one of the knights or… even worse… Rhea herself. That almost gave her a smile, now that would be quite possibly the worst possible conversation she could think of with the archbishop. By the goddess she would dread that. 

But… what else was there to do? 

A sudden splash alerted her wandering senses. She brought her mind back to herself like a heavy weight dropping to the floor with a bang. Her eyes focused immediately on the sound. 

There… up river. Oh… oh goddess.

A massive shape stood up the river, it’s giant form great even at this distance. She recognised it as soon as her eyes connected with the form. With a gasp she scrambled up onto her legs, the monster wasn’t looking her way at the moment. She had to get out of sight. Now! 

Still gripping onto the handle of the blade she left the clothes where they had fallen and dipped behind a thick tree, the trunk hiding her from view. She knew exactly what this thing was, her mind threw memories of the great beasts at her as she and her class had worked to topple such monsters. Trying to remember the lessons from her professor at how to tackle such huge enemies. A great demonic wolf towered over the water up ahead. It’s giant paws splashed into the river, the water around it’s great bulk not even giving it pause. The flow was forced around the form as it’s head stared out into the forest away from her. 

The sharp features of the head and body matched the look of many of the ilk she had seen and taken down before, a jagged somewhat misshapen head, fangs too large for it’s maw. Skin half decayed with missing patches of fur. Wounds and slashes covered it’s form as it scanned the forest. These monsters were the results of dark magic corrupting their natural forms, that's what all the books had said. Edelgard had never seen reason to dispute it, she had often wondered if these poor diseased things were the results of more experimentation from those who slithered in the dark. If that was true… then she was not so different from the hulking ugly mass in the water…

The monster began to sniff the air now, craning it’s head around as it began to take it it’s surroundings. Edelgard hesitated to move back behind her hiding place as her vision connected with something… those eyes. The amber eyes of the wolf. The same eyes that Byleth had. Her eyes widened as she gazed at them… but that… what? She forgot herself as her mind struggled with something she was seeing. They looked so similar… too similar. Did… this mean something? She bit into her lip now. All those stories about humans turning into beasts, just how much of that was true? But then… what about this? Too many questions… too many. Her mind fell away as she just couldn’t understand, her thoughts grasping at things just too out of reach now. Not daring to voice something that she didn’t want to believe. That was impossible… right? There was no way. Just because something shared eyes… it didn’t mean anything… right?

Her thoughts as she stared at the creature was too much of a distraction as suddenly the monster snapped it’s head towards her position!

Edelgard thrust her body back as she shoved her back against the bark. She panted as she froze now, her fingers clenched hard around the blade as she felt cold sweat rise and fall down her skin. Did it see her? Could it smell her? Did it know she was there?! She couldn’t process anything else beyond survival now. Could she take one of those things on on her own…? 

No. 

Not even with this blade. Her eyes glanced down at the weapon, this was not her weapon, it may not reject and corrupt her, but she didn’t know how to use it. She cursed as Edelgard’s eyes panned down to where the clothes of Byleth were still by the bank of the small river. 

Splashes sounded out coming closer, heavy pads as they moved down the river. Coming closer and closer to where she was. Oh goddess she prayed it was going to pass her by. Move on, don’t see her… don’t find her…

But it didn’t pass by. She heard the splashes stop just at her tree she was hiding behind. Her heart rate skyrocketed and into her mouth even as she held her breath, her chest was frozen and she didn’t dare move a single muscle as her eyes stared unblinking to the side of her. The gap where she had been sat at the river. Loud snuffling sounded out right behind the tree now, more splashes… she had to force her body to stop shaking as she saw a giant black nose enter her field of view and nudge against the pile of clothes. She couldn’t move. The giant monstrous wolf sniffed through the pile, before it pulled back and growled… 

The deep sound reverberated through her. It sent her fight or flight response into overdrive even as she stayed rooted in her spot. Her body was shouting at her to run. She still didn’t dare to even breathe as the monster growled out low and loud… so close. The snout started to move forwards, further into the gap between the trees. Further into her spot, a little further and she would be seen…

Sweat trickled down her cheek and along her jawline, if she moved now she would definitely be spotted… but if she stayed here for much longer it didn’t matter anyway. She gritted her teeth so hard her jaw ached, but right now she couldn’t even process that. Her fingers pressed hard into the bark underneath. The snout came closer and closer… until the eyes finally passed the threshold. 

The pupils connected with her… it saw her! 

The creature snarled out, it’s ugly maw pulled back to reveal dark yellow vile fangs, saliva dripping from it’s jaw. It pulled back it’s head as Edelgard sucked in a gasp of air in her panic, her hand gripping the sword of the creator. 

The creature’s half rotting head lunged! It snapped towards her as Edelgard brought up the only weapon she possessed. The blade of the creator dug into the corrupted flesh of the monster. Teeth bit into bark as the sword slashed through the flesh. Wood exploded as the house leader darted back and out of the way, it all happened so fast. The giant wolf howled in pain as she crouched and watched blood spurt to the floor. Her legs were locked but her mind screamed in utter desperation at her. 

Run.

She listened this time and turned. Still holding onto the blade in a death grip now as she plunged back into the forest, uncaring where she was going. Heaving and panting as a fresh wave of adrenaline surged through her, pushing her, onwards, move… she had to run. Her mind ran over that sentence over and over again. Her boots slid through the mud, over exposed roots and through long grass. She heard the creak and burst behind her, she risked a glance back as she sprinted once again. The wolf had torn the tree in half to get to her, the bark flinging into the air as the enraged creature roared at her. She turned back as she had to keep running, focus, don’t falter, don’t trip. Keep going! 

She heard the thing struggle over the tree now and start right after her! It was catching up! She wasn’t fast enough! 

She didn’t know where she was going, she hoped outside but with her heart pounding in her ears and her mind racing she didn’t care. Just away from here!

She kept running, she had to. She could hear the smashing and crashing behind her, it was so close! If she turned around now she knew the fear would get to her, she was drowning in it already, too much, overflowing, she couldn’t look. 

Suddenly a new sound pierced right through her, like an arrow shot from a new aggressor the sound bit into her. She flinched and tensed as she expected a sudden bite from those massive jaws. No! But what her exhausted mind didn’t comprehend was that this new noise did not come from behind her… 

A new roar echoed out into the dark forest, Edelgard whipped round to the demonic wolf now, the pure darkness she saw in its eyes. The snarling, slavering mouth as it forced itself between the trees, splinters flying from branches as it forced its way through, it was so close! Too close! It was going to get her! No! This was not the end. Anger dripped through her form, she was not going to be cowed and brought low by this thing! She finally stopped running, exhausted as she was from her second sprint. She planted her feet down and spun around to face this thing. Not now, not today. Not when she was so close! Not when she had so much still to do! She refused. 

The wolf charged ever closer, it’s jaws open wide, it’s claws reaching for her. Blood stained fangs ready to slice into her, Edelgard pulled back the sword and swung. 

Yet her sword hit nothing but air… her blow lost all it’s power as she could only stare wide eyed as she watched something new enter the fray. A great hulking mass of… Indigo blue fur leapt straight over her head and plunged into the beast… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. The Professor of the Black Eagles

Edelgard could only watch rooted to the grassy spot as the great mass of blue fur careened right over her, the body landing and smashing hard right into the monster. The beast was thrown back as a new party entered the area, bringing a sudden halt to its charge. The monster snarled, saliva flying from its wide gaping maw, its head was pushed back, the creature stumbled and fell to the floor. The mass of Indigo fur causing the giant wolf to barrel to the earth and roots. 

The house leader gripped the sword harder in her grasp. What was this new creature? Was it a friend or a foe? Her body tensed for an attack even as her mind was frantically working. Trying to quickly piece together what had just happened. 

The form that was currently forcibly attached to the snout of the rotting beast was of humanoid shape… but wrong, elongated and slender in places, yet thick powerful muscle rippled over it. More closely resembling a beast than a man. Blue fur draped over its body as it raised its huge claws to rake at the flesh under it. Everything about it shouted animal, from its bushy tail up to its shaggy fur with a mane of long hair draping over its shoulders, to its canine shaped head. Currently pulling its own snarling maw back as it didn’t cease in its unrelenting attacks. 

This new creature growled and bit into the giant wolf, the beast ferocious in its sudden attack. As if a wounded animal seeking to drive off an attacker, again and again it raked its vicious claws across flesh, blood and gore ripping from the monster even as it snapped its head this way and that to dislodge this new enemy. No longer paying any attention to its prey, to Edelgard. 

Just what… was this thing? 

Suddenly, just as the Indigo beast wrenched off a chunk of corrupted flesh with its dagger-like teeth, it glanced back. A quick look, it knew very well she was there. A spark of recognition and intelligence flitted across those eyes. Those amber eyes that she knew had stared at her before... 

Before the thing went back to attacking this foe. 

The monstrous wolf was bucking and throwing itself in the air now, pure rage at this thing that refused to let go. Edelgard quickly stepped away from the fight, the monster was throwing its huge bulk around, she had to get out of the way lest she be crushed or thrown. 

The house leader darted away to a nearby tree, standing near it even as she knew she was ignoring her chance to escape. Something about this new creature made her want to stay, something inside her wanted… needed to make sure the blue humanoid shape would be ok. Two wolves, that were not wolves at all, battled each other in the forest, shaking trees and stamping the ground. Causing leaves to fall and branches to break, bits of mud and earth thrown up around them. 

Finally the giant beast blindly threw its head against a thick tree, this one did not break completely, only crack, managing to smash the smaller wolf shape against it. A yelp sounded out as the humanoid wolf… this… werewolf… fell to the floor. Covered in the crimson and dark blood of the giant predator as the Indigo wolf dropped to the floor. Staring right back up at the giant monster. Those eyes, those amber eyes which had seemed so similar to the great and terrible beast that had chased her, but she wasn’t afraid of those eyes. The corrupted monster, even dripping blood from its shredded face, snarled and roared at the fallen werewolf, it was so big, too large an enemy to face alone. Edelgard doubted her new temporary ally could take this thing on and win. 

Suddenly the words from her dear professor rang in her ears.   
“When taking on such large foes, you must think like beasts, surround them, attack at once, pin them down. Do not let them target any single one of you. You are a pack.” 

Those words rang strange to her now, before she had seen it as a point from a mercenary past. But… was it really all that was? She shook her head. That didn’t matter right now.

That was just it… you can’t take these on one on one. Surround it. Overrun it. Edelgard stepped out from behind her tree and moved over the torn earth toward the monster, she was not going to run anymore. She didn’t want to use such a cursed weapon, no… this was Byleth’s weapon. Not the church’s. Not anymore. She was more than happy to use her teacher’s weapon. 

She stood tall amongst the ruins of the earth and foliage even as the two wolves stared each other down.   
“Hey!” She shouted at the creature to get its attention. A simple flick of an ear was her only response, fine. She loosened her grip on the blade, she had seen Byleth do this plenty of times before… how did she do this? Her eyes scanned down to the blade, the pieces locked together to form the whole, she had seen her teacher whip the weapon around her like a dancer in motion. She had used it as if on pure instinct, there must be a way… 

As if the weapon could read her thoughts, she noticed the interlocking parts open up, the gaps evident along the sword. Trying her luck, she raised the weapon like a whip and struck out, the inner workings of the ancient blade lashed out before her and turned the simple sword into an attack of absolute destruction. Cutting a bloody path along the torn dark flesh of the monster now, a high-pitched whimper sounded out from the surprised predator now. Snapping its rage filled gaze right back at her, but Edelgard wasn’t looking at the beast anymore, she was looking at her ally still on the ground. Taking its cue, the blue werewolf followed up her attack with one of its own. Jumping off on those powerful legs into the air and once again latched onto the monster, this time behind the back of the head biting down hard around its thin ear. The creature had too many targets to defend against, its eyes shutting as it yelped in pain once more. 

Snapping its head back around in an effort to dislodge the werewolf once again, Edelgard pulled her still extended weapon around her and threw it out once more. Slashing at the legs and side of the monster, the predator no longer at the advantage, but like a cornered animal now it bit out at the air and thrashed, its movement jerky as fear was evident. Fear at this prey that was smaller than itself, fear at the prey it was losing against. 

Blood oozed out from its multiple wounds now, staining the dark floor crimson, black corrupted blood raining down upon them both. Edelgard’s heart was thundering in her ears but she was focused solely on bringing down her enemy with this odd ally. She had no time to address if this thing would still be her ally after this but the main focus and threat here was this monster. They couldn’t let it live. Another swipe of her blade, more flesh and gore fell as its sides were stripped of tissue and muscle. This was an enemy, if she granted this thing pity it would do her no favours, it wouldn’t thank her and slink off. It would try to kill her or lick its wounds only to come for her again. 

This thing wasn’t allowed to live anymore. 

She didn’t feel anything for it, that was just how it was. 

Her fear ebbed away from her even as she was reacting on pure instinct, keeping the creature down, tearing at its defences, keeping it occupied. All while the humanoid wolf did far more damage, tearing at its head, blood and skin were flayed and fell as a piece of ear was torn clean off by the great teeth of her apparent saviour. 

The wolf couldn’t focus on either target as it was overwhelmed. The monster started to turn now and try to move away, it was trying to get away. But life wasn’t soft, and neither was she. She didn’t start this fight but anyone or anything that got in her way would be brought down. This creature was no different. This monster was nothing more than a dark abomination, with a small amount of venom leaking into her mind at the comparison between her and this thing, she didn’t let up. 

She once more threw out the whip, this time latching onto the bleeding limb of the corrupted wolf, wrapping around the beast as it tried to move, forcing it to stumble and fall. Howling out into the rain as its great bulk fell to the wet earth. 

The werewolf atop it, covered in the deep red of both its own and the monster’s blood, leapt quickly off the monster. Edelgard pulled at the whip to stop the creature regaining its footing, the giant wolf snarled at her and latched its teeth around the chain of her blade. Pulling her towards it! Her feet slid into the wet mud, she was being dragged toward it! The house leader could get no grip against the sodden earth, just as she was about to let go a heavy thud and crack sounded out. 

Blood exploded out of the wound on top of its skull. Edelgard had to counter balance as the force pulling her in suddenly stopped and she nearly fell onto her backside. A quick step was all it took before looking up at what had caused the change. 

Standing atop the now dead wolf was the Indigo werewolf, in its clawed hands was what looked like half a trunk of a tree… the wood was cracked and caked in blood as it was plunged into the top of the monster’s skull. Dead in an instant. Good. While this thing was an enemy she didn’t want it to suffer or die a slow death, get it over with. 

Edelgard panned her gaze back down to the whip that was tangled in the teeth and around the leg of this once vicious beast, now nothing but a rotting corpse, able to truly rot as it should have so long ago. She tugged the weapon as it clinked against itself, it was stuck. She huffed but it wasn’t moving.

Her eyes panned between the werewolf and her weapon, if she couldn’t get it untangled and out of the corpse’s mouth it would be of no use and no defence against… whatever this thing was. 

She didn’t know what to think so she wanted her weapon to hand, she wanted Byleth’s weapon. It may not be the mercenary herself, but she trusted it to protect her. Come on… another yank, this time the lifeless head jerked with her effort, but it was stuck. Edelgard swore to herself as her effort was fruitless. She wasn’t giving up on this, but… what about her supposed ally. She also still had to find Byleth and… and what? Make sure she was ok. Yes, that was all that mattered. But then… 

The house leader was still tense as her heartbeat kept a steady quick rhythm, she didn’t know if she was safe or not and her body was still on high alert, not directly threatened but extremely unsure in the face of this new beast. 

She flitted her gaze back up now. The beast wasn’t looking at her, it was crouched on all fours still on the head of the beast, staring down at her weapon as she jerked it this way and that. It moved so slowly, almost as if Edelgard was the prey and it didn’t want to startle her. She didn’t know what to think. 

The werewolf drew closer still as it appeared to examine the whip of the sword embedded between the teeth of the giant monster, what was it doing? But Edelgard hated being defenceless in front of something she didn’t know was a friend or an enemy. She once more yanked at the blade in her grip, harder this time. She was already so exhausted, so tired, but she couldn’t relax, not yet. 

A sudden flinch and growl, the werewolf’s eyes snapped to her own with a small rumble in its throat. Edelgard felt a sudden embarrassment rush through her, as her body knew she had done something wrong. She felt like she was being reprimanded… what…? She shook her head even as she stopped her movement. This thing was not human, it did not just tell her off. Yet… she didn’t pull again, she didn’t know what to do. Maybe if she had anything, anything else. She began to scan around her feet, even a rock would help. Clinking of metal brought her attention back to the humanoid wolf before her, it reached inside the dead wolf’s mouth and gripped the whip of the weapon. What was it doing? Edelgard found herself more curious then afraid, so she didn’t yank again. Even as she found a rock near her feet, she was thinking it might make her feel a little better then defenceless. 

The Indigo wolf unhooked the blade from around a couple of teeth and pulled it out of dead bleeding gums… its movements were dexterous, this was no simple creature of the wood. It soon dropped the sword once again, looking up at her… almost seeming to signal to her to try again. The body language seemed calm… for now. So Edelgard pulled once more, this time the weapon shot back to her and clanked back together to form the complete blade. She didn’t know how this thing worked… she guessed that it could sense what it wanted from whoever could wield it? 

Technology that perhaps only those who slithered in the dark understood, but she wasn’t feeling like asking them anytime soon. 

The main thing was that she now had a weapon again… Byleth’s weapon. She dearly wanted the professor at her side, at least in this way she sort of was. She held the blade aloft and ready, unsure of the new beast’s intentions. As soon as she did and readied herself however, the ears of the werewolf before her flattened as a growl reverberated out of it. 

She tightened her grip, holding the sword between them now. Backing up a step in the mud. 

The creature was now stood in the mud too, its form just in front of the dead creature, the giant wolf’s eyes were rolled back as its horrid tongue lay against the earth. The werewolf stood up to its full height, easily standing another two or three foot above her. Its powerful muscled form didn’t detract from its sleek limbs and form, she knew for a fact this thing could easily pull her limb from limb if it so chose. That only made her swallow harshly and step back once more. Distancing herself. 

She wasn’t sure if she had just traded one enemy for another. 

Yet… the thing didn’t move, it certainly didn’t seem happy, the creature was stood on its back legs like a human, yet on the balls of its feet like a wolf. Truly something in-between. The werewolf’s growls only grew worse as she continued to back away and raised her guard, was this thing seeing her as a threat? 

But… something in that growl… seemed… so familiar. Like she had heard it somewhere before. 

Those eyes, the eyes of the beast, just like the thing that lay dead… just like… 

Edelgard blinked as she realised what she was comparing them to. She recalled the eyes of Byleth just before she had fled from her, fled to this forest, fled away from her. Edelgard bit her lip as she realised this was the whole reason why she was here, exhaustion and the fight with the wolf had her mind distracted, her heart beating like a drum as adrenaline burned through her. Even as it was now receding, leaving her cold, but not fearful, more confused and very alert. 

Byleth had the same eyes. She had stared right at her amber eyes, just like now, just as she stared into these amber eyes. She examined the features more closely, the figure still made no move to attack, it seemed to be on guard itself. The growling growing worse as fangs started to become bared, ears pinned back, Edelgard started to feel panic gnawing at the back of her mind. She didn’t want to fight, if she didn’t stop this right now… she didn’t want to have to fight again. She was too tired. Her limbs heavy, her chest tight, she couldn’t keep going for much longer. But those eyes… she pushed back her fear that was threatening to overtake her, she can’t let it. Those eyes were the same… this couldn’t be a coincidence… could it? 

She scanned to the dead wolf, it could be… but…

She panned her eyes back, the mane of hair that covered its head, the colour of its fur. This… can’t be a coincidence. 

The growl grew louder still as it morphed into a snarl now. Edelgard flinched and raised her blade higher, instincts forcing her to prepare for an attack. That made the creature flinch too and raise its sharp clawed hands. Edelgard held a breath, her eyes wide… she didn’t dare move. She stood there frozen in the mud, the creature likewise didn’t move. 

It was starting to get dark now, she didn’t know how long she had been out here. The rain began to slow, its soft pitter patter to the soft earth lessoned, she didn’t know where she was, how far away from the monastery, it was just her and this wolf…

If she didn’t do something… she was sure the creature was going to attack. She just couldn’t ignore all the signs that this could be… her teacher. Was it? Could it really be? Could those stories about beasts in human clothing… or was it the other way around? Could they actually be true… Could this be Byleth?

She looked down at the weapon between them, to the snarling beast before her, its claws could rip her, its fangs could end her… but… what if… 

She wasn’t sure if this was perhaps the most stupid thing she was ever going to do, she could imagine Hubert telling her this was a terrible idea. She dropped her guard, lowering the weapon… before dropping it. The sword dropped to the wet, sodden earth. She hoped she was right, or she was dead. 

Panic threatened to overcome her, once more her mind told her to run. A slavering snarling enemy was before her… she needed to run. But she refused, she held her ground, she was not prey, not this time. 

“Byleth?” She tried, hoping, praying to whatever would listen, maybe that damn goddess that this was true. The werewolf stared down at the dropped blade, its snarling ceased just as quickly. Its fangs were still bared at her however. An ear flicked but quickly flattened once more, she didn’t know what else to do. It didn’t attack, that was the main thing, her bubbling panic still ate away at her but she consciously tried to calm herself, everything was ok, she was ok. Calm down. Breathe. She was not prey. 

“Is that you Byleth? Can you… understand me?” A part of her felt stupid, as if she was speaking to an animal, but there was just something… it was those eyes, she had seen them before back at the monastery, the more she stared the surer she was now. The creature she suspected was actually her teacher made no move that it understood. What should she do now? 

“… I don’t know how to help you.” She straight out said it, she didn’t. She didn’t know what to do. What could she possibly do or say right now? 

The werewolf made the decision for her, it hunched over and dropped onto all fours, it moved very slowly, far more slowly then she expected, the movement was not animal like, almost as if its movements were designed to not frighten her. This thing seemed to be both intelligent and bestial, she wasn’t sure how to act around it. Edelgard felt stiff as a board without her weapon, unsure how to act or be, swallowing back the mental image of fangs around her neck. Stop it. 

The creature began to slowly pad toward her on it’s paw like hands, slowly pressing each one into the wet and torn earth of the previous battle, blood still leaking out over the field, fur was soaked with dirt and mud, yet it didn’t detract from the striking blue. The werewolf drew closer, even as her body grew tense from the creature so close to her now, don’t move… don’t run. She ordered her body still as the wolf eyed her… but didn’t stop moving. It drew closer still until… the blue werewolf stood on all fours before her, it was chest height to her now but still very intimating. The fact that this creature was making no obvious threat allayed her fear somewhat even if it didn’t get rid of it. She tried to smother the built-up panic, but it never quite went away, not when this thing could end her very easily. She could not defend against it, she was at its mercy, she knew it… and hated it. 

But the thing drew even closer… its nose was right before her chest. It was looking up at her, Edelgard could only stare right back… suddenly she swore she saw a flash of blue in those eyes. 

That was it. This was too much, this had to be her. It just had to be. 

Those amber eyes returned, Edelgard glanced away, before bringing her eyes back. What now? The werewolf stayed very still… what did it… she… want? 

Slowly, ever so slowly, just like how the wolf-like creature did with her, she raised her arm up, her hand close by the wolf’s head. She splayed her fingers out… and moved to rest her hand onto the fur of the creature’s snout. The fur was course, stained with blood, but the Indigo wolf didn’t move away. Edelgard had found she had stopped breathing then, as she just realised she needed to suck in air. The wolf’s eyes dropped away from her as it nudged against her hand. She was reminded of the dogs back at the monastery… nudging her for a stroke and a pet… she didn’t know if this was quite the same thing, but she thought it was worth a shot. 

She gently, slowly, timidly and lightly stroked the fur of the creature, her hand reached over its snout and up to its head, in-between the ears that had now relaxed and come forward. The fur was softer here, it was nice, free from the stains of mud and earth, the fur was longer and felt nice on her fingers, even over her gloves. If she wasn’t feeling so on edge, she would have quite enjoyed this now. 

She stroked further back still, into the mane of the creature, it looked and felt… like human hair, the hair really did seem like Byleth’s. She felt like she was stroking her teacher’s hair… that made a bizarre blush creep onto her features. She sure hoped this was ok… but the wolf underneath her leaned into her touch. So… she guessed it was ok. 

A small whine leaked out of the throat of the wolf now… if she wasn’t so close she might have missed it. She pulled back her hand… still slowly, she didn’t want to make any sudden or quick moves, still keenly aware of how this creature could end her. Whether this was Byleth or not. Yet… she was sure this was her… she decided that unless something alluded otherwise than this could very well be her. 

The wolf softly raised her head and looked back up at her, her eyes glistened even in the low light of the forest now, wet trails fell from her eyes… that pulled at Edelgard’s heart.   
“My teacher… you are crying.” Saying those words cemented to her that this, at least for now, was indeed her teacher, and that… she was crying. Just like back at the monastery, just like at her father’s funeral. 

The wolf’s eyes dropped away from her, the head dropping soon after, the ears pulled back. She seemed so full of emotion, it was quite the sight to see from the usually so passive professor, almost as if unlike her human form, emotions were all she had now. The wolf maw unable to process words. 

Edelgard knew why she had been crying before… it was her father. The loss of the captain had hit Byleth so hard, it had even confused Edelgard a little. Not the fact that she was in mourning, but the amount of emotion from her, she was not used to it. The student felt a bit cruel for wanting her to snap out of it but she still thought that Byleth needed to be pushed out of her grief, she needed her as an ally, she wanted her to have her revenge. She couldn’t very well do that whimpering and hiding from the world. Yet… she wasn’t sure if such a speech was the right thing to do with an emotional transformed teacher that could rip out her throat in a second. 

She felt the urge to place her hand back onto the fur of the professor, she wanted to know how it felt on her skin. So she tugged a glove off her hand and placed her shaking fingers once more against the wolf, her panic and fear dripped away as she petted the previously vicious beast. She admitted that something inside of her wanted to feel this while she was still a beast… as she was certainly never going to do this while she was human. That small glimmer of her feelings burned deep inside… she had to admit that she wanted to stroke her hair in human form…

“You miss your father… don’t you…” The house leader spoke so softly, this was not how she planned to have this conversation, but she found herself trying to console the creature that her professor was. Another whine was her reply. Again she wondered if she should say what she had planned to say before. But she didn’t want Byleth to just stay like this. She couldn’t have the teacher just stay as a wolf and give up. Edelgard chewed on her lip as she tried to form her words. Words that she hoped would snap her out of this…

She removed her hand away from the wolf now… Byleth seemed to lean into her touch at first, chasing the contact, before letting her go. She didn’t look back up. Edelgard placed her glove back on and breathed in…  
“Are you waiting for time to heal your wounds? Or have you curled up in a corner and lost the will to carry on?” That wasn’t as harsh as she could have made it, her voice was much softer then she would have been had Byleth been human. But she still said it. That made the werewolf pull away from her and look back up at her. A small spike of guilt struck her. But this was for her own good.   
“I don’t want you to lose yourself… But only you can truly understand your own sadness.” She hoped something was getting through to her. She hoped the wolf could understand her words. “Others can sympathise or even empathise, but all anyone else can offer are tears of an outsider looking in.” She was talking from her own experiences. “So I have no intention of crying for you, or of standing still with you. All I can do is promise to reach out my hand when the time comes for me to move forward.” Part of that was a half-truth… she wanted to cry with her, at her side. Hand in hand as they moved forward together. She wanted Byleth to take her outstretched hand. 

She found herself battling back her own tears at having to say such a thing. It was much gentler than she had planned, but she thought she had to say it. Even now. 

Her heart thundered in case she had just upset the wolf that had been nuzzling her before. She blinked back her tears to see the sadness evident even on the face of this creature.   
“Professor I… I want you to lead us in battle again. But that is your choice. I don’t want you to stay like this, with no thought of the future that is fast approaching.” 

The wolf pulled away from her now… she had expected something like this. Why would you seek comfort from someone that had just berated her? But it still hurt. She just wanted her teacher to pull herself back together, she had to, she had no time to sit in the mud and whine like a dog. Edelgard didn’t have time for a professor like that… no matter how much she wished there was another way. 

A few seconds past of the werewolf doing nothing… Edelgard began to feel on edge once again, she wasn’t fearful… but she certainly very unsure. However without warning the fur began to fall from the form, indigo fur was shed to the ground below as the form shrank inwards, powerful muscle melted away, bones snapped and jutted back into a far more familiar form. Edelgard watched in an almost morbid fascination as the creature twisted and pulled inward, fur replaced by fresh pink skin, muscles fell away to be replaced by the tough but slim physique of a very familiar mercenary. Who was naked. 

The warmth and relief she felt as she watched the transformation back to the form she knew so well was suddenly thrown out of her mind, replaced by a bright red flush on her own features as embarrassment flooded her. Her teacher was naked… 

She quickly raised her hands to her eyes, covering her vision, seeing her naked in her werewolf form was one thing… this was very different! She heard the movement as her teacher rose herself off the floor, no longer standing on all fours and now before her… still very much naked, she knew if she opened her eyes now she would be looking right at her chest. Even in this situation she nearly choked as she thought about the professor’s bare breasts being right in front of her. 

“Edelgard?” The voice was raw… raspy. But it was her alright. So many thoughts ran across her mind, too many to process, this was indeed her professor, the creature that had leapt out of the woods, the werewolf that had fought the giant monster, the thing that had killed it. But also the professor who had taught her, stood at her side, battled with her. She was all of it.   
“Yes?” The house leader answered, still covering her eyes.   
“…why are you covering your eyes?” She asked. Her voice still raw, as if she had just stopped crying, she wondered if that was it or if it was due to the transformation back.   
“Because you are naked…” She answered plainly, trying to save her modesty. Byleth seemed to hesitate.   
“Me and dad used to run through these forests.” Her voice cracked. “Being naked doesn’t bother me.” Edelgard felt so sad for her. Bearing that very same empathy and sympathy she had talked about. Because both of them were werewolves… of course. It made sense. Even if the teacher didn’t outright say it. Now… Byleth was alone. Running alone in this forest. 

Edelgard risked a peak from between her fingers, Byleth wasn’t looking at her now, but she was still stood right in front of her, she got an eyeful of her beautiful, pert, wonderful breasts. Oh goddess. She felt so dirty and wrong before slamming her fingers back together. This was so wrong, she was a student! Even in such an… unusual circumstance she should not be checking out her teacher right now.   
“It was nice when you touched me.” Edelgard wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. Did her teacher even realise just what she had said?! “Thank you.” Edelgard really felt dirty now. Especially as she knew she had enjoyed that too. “Why did you follow me here? I was worried that-” She cut herself off, the student was still covering her eyes so she couldn’t see why Byleth stopped talking. 

“I came to see you to tell you about information the church learned. I also wanted to see you as our teacher again.” She knew that didn’t really explain why she had ran after the professor into the forest… but that was all she wanted to say. “The mysterious organisation that was carrying out experiments in Remire Village and the chapel…” She gave great care to her words, only repeat what the church had said. “They’ve up to something near Garreg Mach. The archbishop has sent the knights to undertake a large-scale investigation.” 

Byleth was quiet after that… she wondered just what was going through her head. Maybe she was thinking about those that killed her father… how Edelgard wished to be with her when she took them down. They didn’t deserve to breathe the same air… they didn’t deserve to breathe at all. 

A small pained laugh rang out. Edelgard strained to gain meaning from the noise.   
“I guess dad would hate to see me sitting out when work is still to be done. I’m sorry you had to come after me just for this…” She ran after her for more then just information and to tell her to lead them in battle again… but she decided to keep her mouth shut. Even as her feelings spread over her, she wished she could talk with her more, to tell her that she was here for her, that she wanted Byleth by her side. As more then just a teacher for the church. But she didn’t. Couldn’t. A small fear niggled at her heart and feelings, what if she did all this and Byleth chose to stay for the church? What if her dad as captain of the knights made her choose to side with the archbishop? What if all she was doing was making an enemy stronger? 

But… she wanted this to be her choice. If Byleth was going to be her enemy, then she wanted her to choose it. Not to run away or hide from the world. She wanted her to face it… she dearly hoped to face the world with her. Not against her. 

“I guess I should go back… do you know where my clothes are?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there we go. I hope you all enjoyed that. I had a lot of fun with this even if it ended up spanning three chapters. 
> 
> I think Byleth as a werewolf would be so cool, I suppose after the next mission her werewolf would be mint green? I think that would look odd as a werewolf colour haha. Blue is much better :). 
> 
> Thank you for reading everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ReevaKnight)


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